Nourishment
by Come Dancing
Summary: Hermione has the perfect life at work and with Ron, but she can't escape the feeling that something is missing. Then an encounter with a drunken Ron at the Weasley home leaves her angry and vulnerable. Someone else in that home thinks he knows what Hermione is missing. All of this leads to something that will change her life forever. My first long story on this account! Review!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Harry Potter, if I did there would have been so many naked Sirius scenes! **

**So in this, the epic fight battle with Harry/Hogwarts against Voldemort did happen as did the other major plot lines in the book. Just not quite so many deaths! Fred, Sirius, Tonks, Remus, and all other characters mentioned in this are alive. I'm sorry if that's too much change but I couldn't bear it haha! **

**A/N: I love writing the characters in Harry Potter as having the natural human feelings they aren't given the opportunity to convey in the books. So I hope you enjoy this! **

With a distinguished _pop!_ Hermione Granger apparated to the burrow and walked the short distance from within the field where she landed, to the front of the house with a very cluttered mind.

She had just came from her job as a healer at St Mungos, where she had just been given a small promotion that insinuated a bigger one was on the horizon. Before she had went to work that morning she'd woken up in the bedroom of her lovely apartment in central London and had walked her usual distance to a coffee shop close to the hospital where she met her boyfriend Ron Weasley for breakfast.

Ron had kissed her cheek on arrival, bought her a medium caramel macchiato just before she arrived so it was at just the right temperature, and had already cut the blueberry muffin he'd ordered her in half and slathered it in her favourite jam.

All in all, it was a perfect morning, followed by a day at work that ended on a high for her career, and now she was on her way to one of the happiest places she knew to have dinner with people she held closest to her heart. At twenty two, Hermione was just starting out in life and yet had things she thought she'd never have. A lovely home, great career prospects, and a loving boyfriend. Yet still, there was something missing.

Seeing that Molly Weasley had noticed her arrival and was waiting for her at the front door, Hermione quickened her pace and met the Weasley matriarch with open arms, and was enveloped into her warm embrace.

"Hermione dear!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed happily.

"Hello Mrs. Weasley." Hermione grinned fondly.

"Molly," Mrs Weasley said in a mock stern voice, "For the hundredth time, Molly!"

Hermione smiled politely. Although it was silly, a part of her thought that as soon as she started calling her Molly, the older woman would officially start defining Hermione and Ron as an engaged couple, and although she knew Ron wanted this, the idea made her uncomfortable.

Walking in together, Hermione took off her robe and tried to make herself look more presentable. Just before leaving her apartment that morning, she'd remembered to pick up her tight fitting blue dress to put in her locker for dinner that evening. Last time she'd attended a meal at the Weasley house she had showed up in her healer robes, and although Mrs. Weasley hadn't said anything out loud, she knew she didn't approve.

"Hermione! You look lovely as always."

The sound of Harry Potter's voice made Hermione beam and she hugged her best friend instantly becoming comfortable in her surroundings. Whenever he was there, Harry gave Hermione the sense of being home wherever they were, like only a brother can do.

"Thanks Harry! Don't look too bad yourself." Hermione grinned.

Harry raised a hand in front of his face and pretended to blush.

Laughing, Hermione linked arms with him and they followed Mrs. Weasley into the kitchen.

"How's work?" Harry asked her smiling.

"It's great!" Hermione replied, "Actually I was given a slightly better position today. I now have slightly more authority than I did before."

"That's great Hermione!" Harry beamed, giving her a quick hug.

They walked in together, and Hermione soaked up all the things she loved about the burrow as she walked. The clock depicting all of the habitants whereabouts, the self knitting articles of clothing that someone was sure to receive as a loving present, and the general atmosphere of family that had always made Hermione feel so welcome in this house.

Walking into the kitchen, she noticed the table was already laid with lots of delectable looking food, and since the only thing Hermione had eaten that day was a blueberry muffin and the hospital canteen's mushroom soup, she eagerly walked over to the table and sat down in her usual seat. Right in the middle, with Harry on her left, and a seat for Ron on her right when he arrived.

As she sat down, sounds of greetings came from all over the room from various Weasley and extended family members.

"Hi Hermione!"

"Hermione! How was work?"

"Took you long enough to get here!"

Hermione laughed and looked at everyone seated around the table. Harry and Ginny sat to her left with Mr and Mrs Weasley at the head of the table. Then there was Bill and Fleur, who were laughing as they sat closely together, Fred and George who were grinning at each other looking slightly suspicious, and Sirius and Remus who sat at the end. Remus sat quietly as drank from his glass, listening to Sirius talk. Hermione surveyed them both. Sirius was without his usual mischievous gleam in his eyes, and seemed to be talking about something that was to be taken seriously. She watched them as Remus nodded and then suddenly, they both stopped talking and looked right at her.

Hermione froze as she felt like she'd just been caught doing something she shouldn't. They continued to stare at her, and just as she wondered if she should apologize, Sirius broke the ice.

"Granger, are you listening in on our conversation?"

Hermione grinned, feeling like things were back to normal and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, because I secretly need to know everything you talk about Sirius." She said jokingly.

"Hello Hermione." Remus smiled and raised his hand in greeting.

"Hi Remus." Hermione beamed at him. He was the person in the room Hermione felt like she could talk to on an intellectual level, and thus she had bonded with him over their shared love of knowledge and books.

Sirius and Remus didn't go back to their discussion, and instead just sat comfortably together waiting for the meal to begin.

Suddenly noticing the emptiness of the seat on her right, Hermione realized that Ron was nowhere in the room.

"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked. She looked around the room and everyone stopped what they were doing to look to her, then to the empty seat she was sitting next to.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon dear." Mr Weasley said kindly.

"He was at work earlier," Harry said "He actually left when I did so I thought he'd get here before me."

"That's weird."

"Yeah."

Half an hour passed, then an hour, then Mrs Wealsey decided that he must have been detained at work and started the dinner. Then Hermione had eaten her starter, was halfway through her main, and then all of a sudden, Mrs Weasley was presenting her a simple bowl of strawberry ice cream.

"I'm sure he'll have a good reason Hermione." Harry said, smiling kindly.

No-one had really spoken to Hermione through dinner. As the evening wore on, Hermione's smile had slipped and her eyes went from being kind to being frustrated then worried.

The clock in the hall had pointed Ron's arrow at 'work' and although Hermione was relieved that it wasn't 'mortal peril' she was angry that he didn't even have the politeness to send an owl or floo.

"Someone go and check on him?" Bill suggested as he spoon fed Fleur some ice cream.

Hermione kept herself from rolling her eyes and the over the top show of affection. To suppress the urge she quickly looked away from them and met the eyes of Sirius, who was looking at her in amusement.

Hermione blushed and made herself busy with her ice cream.

She lifted her spoon and put it in her mouth, relaxing as the sweet taste of strawberries and cream flooded her mouth. As she closed her eyes, enjoying the treat, she found herself at that moment calm and relaxed.

"Enjoying that, Granger?"

Hermione quickly opened her eyes as the voice had come from someone sitting very close to her. As she turned, she saw the smirking face of Sirius Black currently occupying the previously empty seat on her right.

Hermione put down her spoon and blushed.

"Well i was."

Sirius raised his eyebrows, and Hermione was suddenly overcome with his presence. She couldn't deny that he was handsome. He was handsome in the way that sometimes she found herself watching him, thinking about him for far too long. Although she had never explored those thoughts, because usually Ron was glued to her and guilt would take over her even for the most innocent of thoughts.

"You wound me." Sirius said jokingly, clutching his heart for effect.

"Would you like some? I see you've already finished yours and i think the ulterior motive for your coming over here must be to try and steal mine." Hermione said teasingly. She held out her spoon with a helpful amount of ice cream on it.

"You think i need to have an ulterior motive to talk to you Granger?"

Hermione smirked but before she could answer, Sirius leaned forward and took the spoon in his mouth. Staring at her the whole time, he slowly released the spoon and licked his lips.

Hermione tensed. He was sitting so closely that their legs brushed against each other under the table, and she found herself unexplainably nervous all of a sudden. Looking around, everyone else at the table was in deep conversation with each other.

"Relax Hermione. I wont steal anymore of your ice cream." He smirked.

"Just one spoonful?" Hermione asked. "That seems like a small ulterior motive."

Then before she could prepare herself, Sirius leaned into her and spoke softly in her ear.

"Maybe that's not my motive."

He leaned back, but was closer than before. Hermione blushed a dark red colour and was about to respond, when a huge banging noise interrupted the tension and made her nearly jump out of her seat.

Before anyone had time to ask about it, everyone at the table had drew their wands and stood up. Being in a war had affected all of their personalities forever.

"Hello? Wh...where is eeeveryone? _Hellooooo?"_

**Please Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter! **

**A/N: Hello! I'm so sorry, I know it's been a while since I last posted, but i've been in and out of hospital recently. Without getting too much into it, i'd just like to _proudly_ say, that I will not be in hospital again any time soon!**

**So to celebrate, I give you a new chapter, and a promise that I will now be updating at least weekly. **

**I hope you enjoy it, and If you do please feel free to drop me a review. Thanks!**

**P.S! IMPORTANT! - I've said before that I like to explore the human feelings that the characters in the books aren't given the chance to explore, so I hope the general feeling of this chapter conveys that and the tone of this fic, making it clear to you whether or not you'd like to continue reading. Enjoy!**

* * *

Still standing and with their wands poised and ready, the residents of the dinner that was currently underway at The Burrow, breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed as they looked on at the clearly intoxicated Ron Weasley, who was swaying in the doorway.

"There you all are!" Ron grinned, slurring his words as he moved forwards into the room.

In the moment, Sirius had wrapped a protective arm around Hermione's waist, and as her boyfriend neared them, Hermione felt that hand slip away.

Mrs. Weasley who was closest to Ron started fussing over him immediately.

"Ronald! Where have you been? You never miss dinner!"

Ron simply looked at her as though she had just said the most hilarious thing, and gave her an over the top kiss on the cheek.

Hermione, still shocked had no idea how to handle the situation. She could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on her, expectant, and slightly pitying.

"Ron!" She said forcibly, "Where have you been? Are you drunk?!"

As he turned to look at her, Ron visibly lost his cheeriness, and slumped his shoulders so low he was almost hunching.

"Hello _Hermione_."

Not understanding the change in atmosphere, Hermione made her way towards him and started to drag him from the room.

"Come on Ronald, lets get you into bed."

"Aww look at that," Fred said laughingly "Ickle Ronniekins needs a nurse."

"Make sure you really _see to his needs,_ eh Hermione?" Winked George.

There were sniggers and sounds of incredulity from the room as Hermione blushed darkly and looked away in a mixture of embarrassment and fury.

"Right!" Ron snorted loudly "Like she'd touch me with a ten foot fucking _pole."_

Like she'd just been slapped in the face, Hermione let go of Ron and stood paralysed next to him. The shock of what he had just said in front of their loved ones reverberated in her.

"Steady on Ronnie." Fred laughed nervously. "Was just teasing."

"RONALD! That is horrible language!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, looking quite shocked herself.

"What?" Ron asked the room angrily. "We all know it's true. She's as cold as ice."

"That's enough." Harry said as he stepped forward. It had been a while since anyone had seen him so angry.

Throwing one last nasty glance to his girlfriend, Ron let himself be escorted out of the room by Harry, who was pushing him slightly more forcibly than necessary.

After a moment of silence, people started to say all sorts of things that they thought would comfort Hermione, or at least pull her back to reality.

"He's just hammered 'Mione."

"You know how he gets."

"He's a blithering idiot at the best of times, never mind the drink!"

Not quite hearing them, Hermione stood where she was, forcing herself not to cry as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Right well...ehh, we'd better be off home, right love?" Bill said awkwardly to Fleur, who nodded eagerly.

"Thank you Molly." Fleur smiled as she hugged her mother in law, then they went off gladly leaving the tense environment.

Slowly, everyone started to make their departures either to their homes or to their bedrooms, until there was just Remus, Sirius, Mrs. Weasley, and Hermione left.

Mrs. Weasley approached her slowly, with kind eyes.

"Don't worry about him Hermione." She said lovingly. "And don't let his behaviour tonight influence your answer to any _question_ he might ask you soon."

With a knowing smile, she bade them goodnight and left the room, blissfully unaware and content.

"Granger-" Sirius moved towards her slowly.

"I'm fine." She said quickly.

"Hermione, really, Ron isn't isn't himself at the moment." Remus said kindly.

Relaxing her body, Hermione sighed and turned to look at them both.

"I know, I just cant help but feel that he's been feeling like that for some time."

"Granger, Remus and I have Grimmauld place to ourselves, and if you didn't want to be alone tonight, we would be more than happy to have you."

The sincerity in his voice made Hermione raise her head and look him in the eye with gratitude.

She smiled slightly and looked at them both sheepishly.

"Do either of you fancy a drink?"

* * *

A couple of hours, and a few drams of firewhiskey later, the trio were sitting in front of the fire in Sirius' living room, relaxed and enjoying each others company.

Hermione had gone from being completely miserable to laughing loudly at whatever story the two marauders were telling her, in no time at all.

"And that's why I don't drink spirits anymore!" Remus laughed.

Sirius howled and Hermione was doubled over laughing, her cheeks pinching because of how much she had been smiling.

"And with that, I bid you both goodnight." Remus grinned at them and stood up slightly shakily.

"Noo Remus!" Hermione slurred slightly, beaming up at him. "Stay! Have one more drink!"

Remus smiled and bent down to kiss her cheek.

"Don't you worry what Ron said 'Mione. Everyone knows that you're one of the warmest, most lovely people in the world."

Hermione smiled at him gratefully, and gave him an especially tight hug as she wished him sweet dreams.

After he'd gone, Sirius smiled at Hermione, drawing her closer to him on the couch so that he could wrap his arm around her.

"Thank you for letting me be here. I wouldn't have wanted to be by myself, obsessing over what Ron said." She said honestly, relaxing into him.

"Happy to have you Granger." Sirius murmured, drawing lazy circles on her arm.

As the room grew quiet, Hermione became more aware of her surroundings despite the whiskey haze that clouded her head. She suddenly felt warm, and slightly electrified as she leaned against Sirius.

Not noticing the change in her, Sirius clutched Hermione tighter as he questioned her.

"Why do you think Ron said what he did, Granger?"

"Because there's some truth in it," Hermione sighed then took a drink from her glass. "We're the perfect couple if you don't count passion."

As soon as she said it she regretted it, and the look of shame on her face must have been clear for Sirius to pick up on it.

"Don't feel bad for telling the truth," He told her. "But you should feel bad for staying with him if that's how you feel."

Taking this as an insult, Hermione tried to move away from him but he held on, placing his other arm lightly on her hip.

"Settle down Granger," He said with his mouth close to her ear. "I didn't mean anything by it."

Hermione turned her body slowly, so that her face was inches away from his.

"You agree with Ronald." She said softly, accusingly. "You think I can't be passionate, so I stay in a cold, dull relationship."

Sirius lowered the hand on her hip so that it rested on her thigh where her dress ended, ducking his thumb underneath the material he used it to caress the soft skin there.

"I think you're many things Granger," Sirius told her. "But I don't think you're passionate-less."

"What are those many things Sirius?" Hermione breathed, "What do you think of me?"

Slowly she rested her hand on his shoulder, feeling the broadness and strength there, she had to actively stop herself from letting her hand roam about his body.

"I think that you're lonely." Sirius said simply, never once stopping the gentle caress of her thigh.

Hermione said nothing, so he continued.

"And smart."

Hermione let him move her legs so that she was sitting on his lap.

"And sexy." He moved his hand slightly higher up her dress, while his other hand trailed down her side.

"And completely unwilling to let yourself go to something you want."

Hermione looked at him, she knew what he meant. This was the point of no return. She could either prove him right and excuse herself to her bedroom for the night, or prove him wrong and do what she wanted to in that moment.

"Sirius, I-"

Then the decision was taken from her, as Sirius quickly captured her mouth with his own, kissing her firmly.

Hermione's hands went to his neck and she moved from sitting on his lap to straddling him. As the kiss grew more heated, she found that she felt more and more alive.

They sat, embraced and completely lost in each other, until the sound of someone at the floo tore them away.

"Hello?" It was Harry. He was calling from the fireplace near where they were seated.

Without speaking, Sirius quickly disentangled himself from Hermione and moved to be in view of Harry's detached head.

"Hello Harry! What can I do for you?" Sirius grinned, never giving away for a moment that there was frustration laced in his usual cheeriness

"Sirius, do you know where Hermione is? She didn't go back to her apartment or stay at The Burrow, is she with you?"

"Yes i'm here Harry." Hermione called as she moved to kneel on the carpet next to Sirius.

The relief on his face warmed her heart. She knew that she could always count on Harry.

"Good!" He beamed. "Well Ron is successfully asleep in his old bedroom at the Burrow, and now that I know that you're fine, i'm going to go to sleep."

"Goodnight Harry, and thank you." Hermione smiled.

Harry just gave her a big smile, and then his face was gone from the embers.

Hermione and Sirius looked at each other in silence, both of them feeling more intense than their expressions let on.

"I should go." Hermione said quickly, gathering her long forgotten about shoes and bag from the floor, while trying to look anywhere but Sirius' face. "Ron will be wondering."

Sirius stood calmly and rested a hand on her arm and looked straight into her eyes.

"I don't want you to go Granger, but I'm not going to stop you." He told her. "And I'm telling you now, that you'll be back."

Hermione opened her mouth to protest but he beat her to it.

"Once you've realized," He continued "That this is what you've been missing, you'll be back."

"I don't hold any expectations of you Sirius." Hermione told him quietly.

"And neither you should," He replied. "I will not tempt you with false stories of love hearts and rainbows, but I will guarantee to make you feel alive."

The look on his face and the way he held her arm burned her, and she felt a hunger awake in her that she had never felt before, but still she quickly shoved on her shoes and made her way over to the fireplace to go home.

"I'll see you soon Sirius." Hermione said, thinking that the louder she said it the more it would hide how much she was shaking with her desire to stay.

Sirius said nothing, just moved close, put one hand behind her head and one on her hip, and kissed her once, softly.

"Goodnight Granger."

Then he turned and left the room.

The second that Hermione arrived back in her own apartment, she sunk to the floor of her living room and let all of the emotions she had been trying to hold back consume her.

Guilt for kissing Sirius while she was with Ron, shock at how much Sirius had affected her, and huge amounts of desire for him.

Instead of dwelling on Sirius, Hermione got herself into bed, and as she stared at the ceiling preparing for a sleepless night, she told herself that she would stay away from him...and tried very hard to believe it.

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**I hope you liked it. Please review?**


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